Other News

MARINE FISHERIES OBSERVERS Company: AIS, Inc. is hiring, please read the complete details at Environmental Career.

When William Hogarth visited New Bedford in January 2005, the city was reeling from the loss of five fishermen who had perished at sea when their scalloper sank off Nantucket in rough weather.

Hogarth, then the top federal fisheries administrator, listened to frustrated fishermen complain about rigid fishing rules that were responsible for tragedies such as the Northern Edge sinking.

Hogarth’s visit led to federal funding that helped then-Mayor Frederick Kalisz establish the city’s now successful safety training program for commercial fishermen. Prior to Hogarth’s visit, he had pledged his support for changing scallop fishing rules blamed for sinking the Northern Edge. The rules penalized fishermen for breaking fishing trips to avoid bad weather, forcing captains to choose between economic gain and the safety of their crews. The rules were later amended to accommodate bad weather.

Read the complete story at South Coast Today.

Because of working for many years in both New England and Alaska, I have long been extremely critical of the New England approach to fisheries management because it has suffered from a fatal flaw: a failure to believe in the basic goal of maintaining fish stocks at their optimum level.

This underlying rejection of the fundamental goals of fisheries management is what has led the New England council time and again to fail to adopt effective measures to rebuild stocks, which now for a generation have been in serious decline.

Now, the council is again acting like a dysfunctional spouse in a domestic abuse case – unable to stop fighting the last war despite the intervention of grownups.

Yesterday, following largely the advice of lawyers based in Gloucester, the council voted again to affirm its rejection of NMFS interpretations of the mixed stock exemption, arguing explicitly that in a situation where many stocks are harvested together, the council has the ability to refuse to rebuild those stocks most at risk if it interferes with the other stocks being harvested at their optimum yield.

Read the complete story at Blogfish.

Not everyone in New Bedford, Massachusetts was busy debating fishing rules this month. Some of them were reveling in the legacy of New Bedford’s last great resource hunt, whaling.

It was the annual Moby Dick Marathon at the whaling museum, where 170 people read aloud the entire text of Moby Dick. No, I’m not kidding, the read the whole thing out loud, it took just over 24 hours. This year marked the 13th undertaking of the leviathan task. Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank read chapter 3, nice going Mr. Frank.

The rise and fall of whaling was New Bedford’s last big boom and bust, and fishing has done some of that. But unlike whaling, fishing should last forever if done right.

Read the complete story Blogfish.

BOSTON, MA (March 20, 2009) – Get ready, Green Line riders. The foul-mouthed fish are back.

After months of negotiations, Legal Sea Foods said it has received approval from the MBTA for a new series in its "Fresh Fish" ad campaign.The new insults include zingers such as: "Kiss my bass;" "If that’s your girlfriend, I’d throw her back;" and "Darn, you smell like carp."

Read The Boston Globe story in full

 

FAIRHAVEN, MA (March 19, 2009) – Approximately 185 people had the opportunity to listen to a presentation by a scallop fishing boat captain who described the business from a unique perspective.

Justin Tonnessen captain of the 99 foot Ambassador, was the guest of the Fairhaven Historical Society, Inc. for the presentation at the Fairhaven Town Hall Friday evening.

The 31 year old captain detailed some of the history of the boat yards and shops that are intregal parts of the fishing industry in Fairhaven.

Read the Hathaway News Service story in full

 

NEW BEDFORD, MA (March 15, 2009) – After a feature on the Bravo channel’s "Top Chef" earned Oceans Alive Scallops national acclaim, the company decided it wanted to repay the favor. They invited Hosea Rosenberg, who won the competitive cooking series with a dish made from the local scallops, to see firsthand where scallops come from — and he was more than happy to accept.

On Saturday, Rosenberg traveled from Boulder, Colo. to visit New Bedford and learn about the scallop industry. Carl Achorn III, head of sales for Oceans Alive, gave him a tour of the waterfront and took him aboard Hear No Evil, a 92-foot western-rigged scallop boat captained by Michael Willett.

"This whole thing for us has been tremendous," Achorn said. Since Rosenberg chose to work with their scallops for his winning dish for the series finale in February — and since the distinctive Oceans Alive can was featured prominently in a shot — the local company has seen a surge in customers.

Read the Standard-Times story in full